Wedding Night
by Lady Cailan
Summary: Alistair has post wedding jitters and Elissa doesn't care.  Marshmallow fluff - rated M just in case. Submitted for the wedding challenge at Cheeky Monkeys.


_A/N: Submitted for the approval of KCousland Cheeky Monkeys for her wedding challenge. All fluff and light smut – and what's fluffier than Alistair? Enjoy. LCailan_

ooo

_**-Wedding Night-**_

ooo

Alistair had locked himself in the room adjacent to the royal bedchamber – and stood studying himself in the large, ornately framed looking glass on the wall. He squared his shoulders, stood with his head held high. The man in the reflection did the same, and the jewels sown into his wedding tunic glinted in the firelight. He had long removed his brother's armor, but still he looked dashing, well dressed….kingly.

Kingly.

_I am a king! _He thought nervously, swallowing as he regarded himself in the glass. He liked the way he looked – the gold and white tunic fit him in all the right places, and the cloak was long and regal and seemed to float behind him as he moved. He took a step to the side, and looked at himself from the side. Then he did a turn, watching his cloak billow gracefully around himself.

_I can't believe that's me in the mirror!_

"Alistair?" came the soft voice from behind the large wooden door on the other side of the room. Alistair's heart began to race – and this time it was for completely different reasons than the first time he had ever seen her.

_She can't possibly be finished, can she? That dress was insane! It took four serving girls to get her into it, how can she be out of it already? Didn't it have some sort of hoop – something to make it impossible to get undressed?_

Thoughts raced through his fevered mind, but Alistair couldn't believe that his bride had changed so quickly! She was waiting for him, and he was-

_Maker, I think I might wet my trousers. Why am I nervous? On my wedding night of all nights? __It's not like I haven't seen her without her knickers! And she knows about that unsightly mole on-_

He stopped thinking when Elissa's voice rose up once more from behind the door.

"Alistair?"

"Coming!" he called, hoping it didn't sound too nervous – too whiny. He began to undress, his fingers like fat sausages which made it impossible to unbutton his trousers. He yanked at his cloak in an ungraceful fashion, finally managing to get it off.

"Wasn't today wonderful?" she sang from the other side of the door. Alistair stopped fighting with his trousers to reply.

"It was," he agreed breathlessly, feeling his heart beating wildly in every inch of him. Indeed, apart from the day the blight had ended, his wedding day to Elissa Cousland (Theirin, not Cousland, she was a Theirin now) had been the most magical of his life. From the moment he had spied her on her brother's arm, to the end of the fantastic royal feast, every second had been perfect.

Fumbling for his tunic now, he felt himself trembling.

_What is wrong with me? _

The jeweled tunic finally came off and Alistair stared at himself half clothed, a sheen of sweat on his brow.

"You were amazing," he managed to say. Now for the trousers, but he was afraid those wouldn't come off that easily.

"And you were so handsome," Elissa replied longingly from behind the door.

"My head is crooked," he decided watching himself critically in the glass now. He was puny – even after all the battling.

_I'm puny. Maker help me._

"What?" she asked, issuing forth a musical giggle. "Your head is just fine."

"Crooked," he corrected fighting a mini war with his trousers. "When they put the crown on my head right before the wedding, it sat cockeyed."

She giggled once more.

"I love your crooked head," she told him with obvious affection.

Alistair let out a surprised laugh just as he managed to get the buttons of his trousers undone. Finally. They sank to his knees and even with the fire blazing Alistair found it cold in the room.

_Maker, I might pass out._

"Fergus may have had too much to drink," Elissa was saying now, "but other than that, the feasting was splendid, wasn't it?"

He was standing there in just his undergarments (though he had to admit even these were luxurious looking) as he replied.

"Well, on a day such as today I suppose a little drink was in order, right? Oghren was passed out before we even had the cake!"

She was laughing now.

"You know what's funny? After all this time, and everything we've been through I realized that tonight was the first time I've ever danced with you."

His heart skipped a beat and his cheeks flushed with color as he imagined himself in that place once more, moving with her slowly along the ballroom floor to the beat of the musicians that had been hired just for the wedding. She had been as soft as a whisper and had smelled like the air and sun warmed lilies. It had been perfect and he had recalled thinking about the moment they would finally be alone in their bedchamber – their first night as man and wife.

_Which I am wasting since all I can do is stand around in my undergarments!_

He didn't realize how much time had gone by until Elissa's voice sounded once more. This time, she was right against the door.

"Alistair?"

"Hmm?"

"I…it's lonely out here," she purred seductively. "Are you coming to join me?"

The request was at the same time so sweet and so erotic that it made him go weak in the knees. He let out a rush of air and then turned around.

_This is absurd. I'm her husband, and she's my wife, and we love each other._

Finally Alistair flung the door open in an unceremonious way and there she stood, his Elissa. She was his wife, his everything. Beautiful, warm, smiling, the queen of Ferelden and the first and last woman he would ever be with. She was everything that was precious to him. Her deep blue eyes glittered with longing as she took him in, and in the firelight her flawless skin and hair seemed to glow with unearthly light. She was clad in a filmy cream colored gown that fell to her toes and clung to ever curve and cranny as if it had been made for her. Alistair realized that it probably had been, now that she was queen. Her caramel colored hair was pinned back from her lovely face and she was giving him a smile now that he knew was meant only for him.

She was as breathtaking as Andraste herself, and Alistair was sure in that moment that he was far from worthy of her love, of her beauty, and of her hand in marriage.

"Maker but you are beautiful," he whispered, his tongue darting out to run along his lower lip.

She blushed beautifully.

"You flatter me, dearest King," she replied in a voice drenched in richness while her tiny hands reached for his to hold. "You're shaking," she added in surprise as she looked down at their linked hands.

Alistair offered a strange laugh. 

"It's cold in here," he lied, though he knew better than that. No one would believe that the warmth of the early spring air would make anyone shiver.

Elissa led him to the opulent and heavily blanketed bed and sat down, pulling him with her. He sat next to her, albeit stiffly, not sure how to act now, or what to say. A thousand things should have come to his lips, all sugared flatteries and flirtations, but he was silent. A thousand things he should have done to begin their first night together, but he was frozen in place – petrified.

"You look so handsome tonight," she offered, inching closer to him in the bed, her eyes ripe with anticipation as she gazed on him. "Perfect in fact," she decided reaching up to run her fingers through his hair for a moment before her fingers traced their way down the side of his face tenderly. Then she sat back, and her gaze wandered over his bare chest, and the rest of his nearly nude form. "I've always thought it, but I don't tell you enough," she murmured, her hand sliding along his waistline, making it difficult for Alistair to breathe.

"I'm puny," he managed to say. "And-

"The crooked head, I know," she laughed and leaned up to kiss his lips tenderly. "And you're so wrong about yourself. I happen to like you just the way you are, and I'm the only one who has to," she pointed out with a playful smile as she pulled away from him only to move closer, to press that warm body against his.

Alistair sighed, and then when he released the breath he shuddered. Elissa giggled lightly.

"That nervous?" she asked curiously reaching to cover his hand with hers, hoping to calm him. He nodded wordlessly, his head moving up and down with vigor.

"Why? It's not like we haven't done this before, or even infrequently," she said impishly, a light smile on her lips now. Somehow, it was endearing to see him in such a state. "And this time it's going to be much better than all those other times," she continued conversationally. "No more hard and uncomfortable bedrolls," she pointed out her eyes dancing with mirth.

Alistair opened his mouth but Elissa put her fingers against his lips.

"No more cramped tent," she continued with a fond smile. "We don't have to worry about your getting tangled up in those ropes."

Alistair's eyes widened as Elissa tried not to laugh.

"And no more drunken serenades from Oghren, right?" she laughed.

He turned pink.

"Elissa-"

"Zev won't be around to give you advice-"

"Elissa! I'm trying to be serious here!" exclaimed a blushing Alistair. Elissa watched him with expectation now.

"So be serious," she conceded and the new king paused, gathering his thoughts.

"It's got nothing to do with my clumsiness or the small tent or the camp, or Oghren or even Zevran," he muttered. "It's…just that now you're not just…the woman I fell in love with, you're…you're…my _wife._"

Elissa's smile grew when he said those words.

"I love the way that sounds," she said happily, snuggling closer to him. Alistair leaned in to kiss her forehead in reverence, gently undoing the pins so that cascades of caramel hair fell around her shoulders.

"I love saying it," he said quietly, his eyes shining with all the love he felt. Gently he turned her so that she was facing him. "You know, all those months of traveling with you and…everything we've been through, you…you've been so good to me, and I think…I've always loved you, Elissa. I didn't know it for a long time, and I was stupid sometimes, and slow, awkward, uncertain because…it's never been anyone but you and now…"

He took a breath, although now it seemed easier to do so.

"I know sometimes…I say things and act weird and…I mess up things I really, really want. I feel…like this is a dream, Elissa. My whole life I've wanted someone to walk into my life, and I couldn't put a face with my dreamings, until you walked into my life that day at Ostagar. I guess I just don't want to screw this up. I want to wake up with you at my side for the rest of our lives."

He laced his fingers through hers and held on. Elissa smiled down at their hands first and then up into his face.

"You know, I used to laugh," she said softly thinking of her brother now. "Laugh at Fergus and his wife and I believed that love was just some silly fancy," she admitted. "Until you."

Her words were ridden with fondness. She took a peek up at him now from beneath thick lashes. "I understand what you're feeling."

She smiled once more, her face brightening at the thought of them being together forever. "There was always so much to do, a Blight to fight, and I never thought…I never stopped to wonder when wanting you happened, but I think I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."

There was a silence.

"All the other stuff is done, and all that's left is you and me, and I want to be with you forever," she said with certainty, for she knew that she would never love anyone the way she loved her Alistair. Then she gave him a sultry smile, her eyes filling with desire. "And that forever starts right now," she finished with a whisper, and then she guided the hands that were clasped in hers up along her body to the ties on her night dress.

"Undress me," she said her gaze never wavering. Alistair wondered how it was that just a smile and some words from her blessed lips had made his fear vanish. Fingers trembling, he found the ties that held the fabric together and worked gently to undo them, watching the gauzy gown fall away from perfect warm flesh and he replaced the dress with his lips which caused Elissa to break out in goose bumps. He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, and pulled her close wanting to feel her skin against his, and she melted into him like she had been made for this moment, for this night and for him forever.

Sighing he found her neck with his lips, tracing the area tenderly.

"I love you so much," he whispered, allowing his hands to roam her body freely and Elissa sighed and smiled up at him turning her face so that he could kiss her properly.

"Then you should show me," was he reply and desire for their passion to fully unfurl. Alistair smiled playfully against her delicious mouth.

"I intend to. All night long."

Something about that night and those moments was different, and they both knew it. Each touch was more precious, each whisper more tender, and each pleasurable sensation more poignant. They fell to the bed, and Alistair lowered himself over his bride, carefully stroking her hair, her face, his kisses loving and tender at first and then more passionate and demanding as he forgot where he was and allowed himself to get lost in her. Elissa accepted his weight, wrapping her arms around him and allowing his manly scent to assault each one of her senses. It was as if she could taste, feel, see and hear him all at one time. There was only Alistair – and nothing else. For her, it was like the first time – each movement of his body against hers, each touch, every sensation heightened to points almost unbearable, so that she thought she would weep. She found herself in need of words to tell him how she felt, of how wonderful this was between them and when she gazed up she could see his beautiful face swathed in the late night shadows.

_I don't have to,_ she realized. _He knows._

Elissa felt her eyes welling up. It was amazing – the most perfectly amazing thing in the world – to be one with someone, to be this close, to feel your souls connected completely and in every way.

"I know," he whispered to her, leaning down to offer a gentle kiss amidst their growing ardor. She wanted this moment to last forever, to gaze on him for all time while they were this way, but the sensations in her body, what he was doing to her caused her to arch her back, her eyes closing. Her body began to build towards a distant crescendo, and before she knew it her body exploded into a glittering oblivion as she clung to him her body shuddering. Then she opened her eyes, mesmerized by the beauty of his face, the expressions flickering across it as he took his own release.

Alistair sank against her, and Elissa could feel the hammering of his heart as she wrapped herself around him trying to catch her breath. He murmured something against her neck and she raised her eyebrow.

"What was that, love?" she whispered, stroking his messy hair.

"-love you," he managed as he was trying to catch his breath, and he looked up, cheeks flushed, a boyish smile on his face. She stroked his cheeks, and leaned up to kiss him.

"And I adore you, dearest husband."

"I love how you say that."

"And I love saying it," she finished, her eyes fluttering closed as she gathered herself for sleep on the first night of the rest of her life.


End file.
